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"Free from the fear of death, these pieces of shit step up, kill their master, take over and paint the shores of the far east with the blood of anybody who stands in their way. They grow in size, power, wealth, spread across Asia and finally give themselves a name. Yami no te, it means the Hand."

The Yami no te (闇の手[1]), referred as the Hand, was an ancient and powerful ninja clan with the ultimate goal to gain immortality. The Hand originated in K'un-Lun, when the five founders were banished from the city and have since lived on in the shadows for centuries, promoting their goal through wars and influence on powerful people. When the Hand came to New York City, the branch leader Nobu Yoshioka used Wilson Fisk in order to bring to the city Black Sky. However, his plan was interrupted by the vigilante Daredevil, and eventually they had to stop their operation after Yoshioka's death. By the power of resurrection the Hand had obtained, Yoshioka returned to lead the Hand in New York City in order to find a new Black Sky for their war against the Chaste. Elektra was the new Black Sky, but she refused to join them and after the Attack on the Hand, both she and Yoshioka were dead.

Madame Gao, another branch leader, continued her heroin distribution in the city with the help of her influence on Rand Enterprises. The return of Danny Rand, the new Iron Fist, caused total destruction of her operation and the resurface of Bakuto's branch, who was dedicated to turn Iron Fist to their side. His death by Davos did not stop the Hand from launching an assault on the city of K'un-Lun with the absence of the Iron Fist.

Alexandra Reid used the last of The Substance, their regenerative elixir, to bring back Elektra to serve the Hand as their Black Sky. In order to find more of the Substance, the five leaders gathered once more in New York City and tried to catch Iron Fist so he would open the gates for the substance. However, the Defenders were formed in order to stop them from destroying the city. As the Hand reached for the substance, Elektra killed Reid and led the Hand for her own purposes, only to lead them to their doom when the Defenders buried the rest of the leaders under the ground.

Contents

History

Origin

"A long time ago the elders of K’un-Lun gathered to study how to harness their Chi, the energy of life itself. They wanted to use it to heal. But there were five heretics among them, people with darker intentions. They didn’t want to heal; they wanted immortality — power, to never face death, to regenerate themselves again and again. The elders saw this as an aberration, and so, like Lucifer from heaven, the five were banished from K'un-Lun forever. They became the five fingers of the Hand. They went back to their mother countries, each finger ruling over its own domain, growing in power and influence."

Centuries ago, maybe millennia, the Order of the Crane Mother monks of K'un-Lun studied the secrets of the Chi to learn how to use it to heal, but five of them used their brethen's discoveries to cheat death. Those heretics, Alexandra Reid, Madame Gao, Bakuto, Murakami and Sowande, were banished from K'un-Lun and became the five fingers of the Hand. After their banishment, each traveled back to the lands of their births, where they built their own criminal empires.[2]

In East Asia, the Hand discovered the mystical secret of immortality, by using the substance of dead dragon bones.[3] Now, fearless of death, the group soon expanded their control over Asia. Only after they became a powerful empire, did the group call itself "Yami no te" (Dark Hand) or the "Hand", with the goal to activate the human weapon known as Black Sky.

However, the Hand made many enemies. As they massacred a village, one boy managed to kill some of their greatest warriors. The Hand named the boy the "Chaste", who over the years recruited warriors to fight the Hand.[4] The Order of the Crane Mother faced the threat of the Hand as well, training their warriors and the Iron Fist to destroy the group.[5]

In order to find more of the elixir, the Hand dug holes under cities where beneath them laid the bones of dead dragons. For centuries, this Modus operandi caused the destruction of several cities, such as Pompeii and Chernobyl.[2]

However, Meachum was diagnosed with cancer. Gao offered him to be resurrected in exchange for using Rand Enterprises for the Hand's plans. Over a decade, the Hand gave Meachum the orders for the company,[9] which led Gao to become one of the biggest drug dealers in New York City.[10]

Hunted by Stick

Stick, a member of the Chaste, an ancient organization sworn to fight and defeat the Hand, found Aito and ordered him to tell him where the Black Sky was. Aito, fearing for his life, swore upon his family that the Black Sky was on a ship heading to New York City. Stick killed Aito, telling him his family was better off without him.[11]

Yoshioka and his men waited at Pier 81 for a shipment to arrive. The shipment contained the Black Sky, who appeared to be a prepubescent boy. Stick and a man in a black mask attacked his men, but the Black Sky was transported away in a truck. However, Stick eventually caught up with the truck and shot the boy through the heart with an arrow.[11]

Seeking to kill the Masked Man, Nobu Yoshioka hid from the shadows and slowed down his heartbeat and lowered his body temperature. Yoshioka noted that Stick taught the man their ways, though the man tried to tell him that he was not associated with Stick or his war. Yoshioka, however, pointed out that he still aided him and, regardless of his allegiance, was still a warrior deserving an honorable death. The man told Yoshioka that he came searching for Wilson Fisk, as Fisk had murdered Elena Cardenas to bring him into their trap, but the man decided that he would have to settle for defeating Yoshioka.

Yoshioka insisted that the man shows him respect as he just did; the man replied that he had to earn it. The battle began and Yoshioka quickly proved himself the superior fighter, first throwing Bo Shuriken at him while countering and dodging the man's blows with ease. He then proceeded to take out his Kyoketsu-shoge and cut the man numerous times across his body. Although the man used his batons to deflect several blows, Yoshioka's skill continued to beat him and he was stabbed in the side with the blade and dragged across the floor, causing the man incredible pain and slowly killing him.

Despite this, the man managed to continue fighting, impressing Yoshioka, who told him that he was an honorable opponent. The man managed to kick Yoshioka into an oil tank, spilling gasoline over him. Yoshioka went to kill his opponent but the man managed to grab one of his eskrima sticks and deflect Yoshioka's blade, accidentally causing it to hit a light post. The sparks landed on Yoshioka, lighting the gasoline and causing him to be engulfed in flames. Despite this, Yoshioka still proceeded to attack Murdock before succumbing to his wounds and dying while his body continued to burn.[12]

The Hand was able to resurrect Yoshioka, who once again assumed leadership of the organization.[13] Since Wilson Fisk's entire organization had crumbled upon his imprisonment, The Hand operated quietly, secretly infiltrating the Japanese branch of the Roxxon Oil Corporation.[14]

Continuing with the Plan

The Hand kidnapped Roxxon accountant Stan Gibson's son Daniel to ensure his cooperation. Daniel, along with other young people, were used as hosts to incubate organic particles in their blood. Then their blood was slowly and consistently drained to be used in a ritual involving a stone sarcophagus.[13] Meanwhile, other Hand workers began digging an enormous hole in Midland Circle.[4]

Finding Black Sky

"The Black Sky is not a myth, we have wanted you since you were a child, you were taken from us but now you have returned.""What the hell are you talking about?""It's you Elektra, you are the Black Sky, our greatest living weapon."

Nobu Yoshioka realized that Elektra Natchios, who was a child when she was first recognized as a Black Sky, had returned to New York City. He sent Hand ninjas to kidnap Stick so that he could be tortured and coerced into giving up Natchios's location. Although Stick never betrayed her location, she went looking for Stick to kill him, and was confronted by Yoshioka, who told her of her destiny as the Black Sky. She was tempted to join The Hand, but Daredevil convinced her not to.[15]

After Natchios fled with Stick and Daredevil, Yoshioka realized that Daredevil had an enormous influence on her, and set an elaborate trap to lure him out and eliminate him. He ordered Tyler to abduct twenty people whom Daredevil had either saved or put away, knowing that Daredevil would appear to save them. When both Daredevil and Natchios did just that, Yoshioka and the Hand ninjas engaged them in a brutal fight in which the Hand overwhelmingly outnumbered the two. In an attempt to kill Daredevil, Yoshioka accidentally killed Natchios.

Furious at losing the Black Sky, Yoshioka ordered his ninjas to finish off Daredevil, but the Punisher, having heard about the fight on a police radio, shot several Hand ninjas from a nearby roof. Daredevil fought and vanquished Yoshioka, using his billy club to throw him from the roof. Yoshioka survived the fall but was killed by Stick, who decapitated him while ordering him to stay dead. Hand ninjas secretly dug up Natchios's grave and exhumed her body. They placed it into the stone sarcophagus and as they lowered the lid respectfully, a heartbeat was faintly heard.[16]

Bakuto, a well trained warrior of the Hand, founded a less radical faction of the Hand in a place called Hand Compound. He gathered to his organization children in distress, offering them a safe house, but also trained them for to the Hand. Bakuto gave Colleen Wing, a student of his, a Dojo to train Hand soldiers. Bakuto's ambition was to turn the Iron Fist to their own side.[17]

Gao had Meachum, through his own son Ward Meachum, purchase a pier property with the intention to smuggle a scientist into New York named Radovan Bernivig to produce all of their heroin. However before he arrived, Iron Fist intercepted Bernivig and escaped. Having inspected the truck with Iron Fist had punched through, Madame Gao killed the bodyguard assigned to secure Bernivig and left his head behind in the abandoned truck for Rand to find, along with a challenge to him, as to free Bernivig's daughter from her would be to then complete her upcoming Da Jue Zhan contest.[19]

Fighting Iron Fist

"History says that the Iron Fist and the Hand are mortal enemies. But I wonder in the spirit of change, perhaps we can be something different. Last night showed me the truth. K'un-Lun did not send you to hunt us down. You left of your own free will, because you wanted to be Danny Rand. So, why not enjoy the life you traveled so far for?"

Danny Rand arrived at the location where he set the terms for Madame Gao that if he won the duel, she would be forced to free the captured Sabina Bernivig and the Hand would leave New York City, never to return. Gao accepted this and in turn demanded that if he were to lose the contest, then he would never get involved with the Hand's activities again. Gao through the warehouse to fight Andrei and Grigori Veznikov, Bride of Nine Spiders and Scythe. Rand defeated them all, however Gao demanded his withdrew in order that Sabina Bernivig would live. Rand agreed and learned from Gao that she had been in K'un-Lun before.[20]

Bakuto's War

"Do you really think you're worthy to challenge me? These two are warriors, you are nothing but a betrayer. You have no honour, I should have recognized you were too weak to be Hand. Deep in your soul, you know you are nothing more than a teacher of children, at a dojo that I gave you."

Now with the Iron Fist in their facility, Bakuto taught him some Chi techniques. Bakuto hoped that Rand would understand them and join them. However, once discovered they were actually another faction of the Hand, Rand escaped the facility with the help of Davos. Bakuto also made a deal with Harold Meachum so now they would become partners.[17] He wanted to find Rand, so he spoke with Colleen Wing to ensure she was still on their side. However, Wing did not inform him that she had found Rand, so Bakuto sent some of her former students to kidnap and bring her back to Hand Compound to drain her blood.[23]

Bakuto made a deal with Ward Meachum for the same control Madame Gao had over Rand Enterprises. Later, he discovered that the Meachum's were stealing his money, so he and his warriors came to Harold Meachum's Penthouse and took them hostage, making Rand coming to him. Rand came just in time to prevent Bakuto from executing Harold, and let himself to be captured by the Hand. Hwoever, Wing and Davos came to rescue him, so Bakuto run from the scene. The three chased him and cornered him but Wing challenged him to a duel. She managed to defeat him, but was unable to kill him, so Davos stabbed him in the heart. When the three walked away from him, the Hand took Bakuto's body away from them.[24]

War for New York City

Striking Back

Using their last of the elixir to resurrect Elektra, she came back to life as the Black Sky. Alexandra Reid oversaw her training and once she thought they were ready, she ordered the Hand to massacre all of the Chaste members. The Hand also had John Raymond to design for them a skyscraper in Midland Circle to cover the hole.[25] With no explanation, Reid ordered Madame Gao to precede their progress in the hole, which cased an earthquake felt in all New York City.[26]

As the Hand were near to their objective underground, the way to there was shut by a wall. Reid suspected the Order of the Crane Mother could be behind it so she planed to kidnap Iron Fist so he would open the way. In order to find him, the Hand attacked the base of the Chaste and took Stick to Reid. Sowande hired some children from Harlem to clean up the bodies.[27] Stick did not reveal the location of Iron Fist and after he discovered Elektra was alive, he escaped from them. Meanwhile, the four vigilantes of New York investigate the Hand's activities from different directions, which led Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist to Midland Circle, where a fight broke between the four Defenders and the Hand warriors, which ended with the Defenders escaping.[25]

Conflict in Leaderships

Knowing she couldn't get Iron Fist alone, Alexandra Reid reunited all the leaders of the Hand to defeat the Defenders. At the Royal Dragon, where they were hiding, Reid sneaked in there and tried to convince Danny Rand to join her, but he refused.[2] so in response, Elektra, Madame Gao, Murakami and Sowande came to the restaurant and fight the Defenders and Stick, only to loss after they managed to escape with Sowande as a captive. The leaders questioned the efficiency of the Black Sky after she failed to kill the Defenders. They also sent men to kill the closest people to the Defenders, revealing to them that Bakuto had also been resurrected. The Defenders manged to prevent that and hide them from the Hand. When Sowande tried to kidnap Rand, Stick killed him.[28]

The tension between the leaders increased even more after they discovered Sowande's death. Questioning Reid's leaderships and her trust in the Black Sky, Murakami decided to overthrow her but he stopped as Elektra brought the Iron Fist to them, after killing Stick. However, this was not enough for the leaders, so Reid ordered Elektra to kill the rest of the Defenders, but instep she killed her master since she refused to kill Daredevil.[29]

End of the Hand

Elektra declared herself as the new leader of the Hand, although she only wanted the substance for herself. In Midland Circle, Elektra brought Iron Fist to the wall which blocked the way to the substance. During their fight, Elektra caused Rand to touch with his fist on the wall, opening as a result the gates to the substance. Meanwhile, Madame Gao, Murakami and Bakuto fought the other Defenders who came to rescue Rand, but the Hand leaders lost and they had to retreat to the hole.[30]

Locating the dead Dragons bones, the Hand began cutting the substance out from them. However, the Defenders reunited and fought the Hand to stop them from eventually destroying New York City. Bakuto was killed by Colleen Wing and the Defenders defeated all of the Hand warriors. Wing, Claire Temple and Misty Knight set explosive to cause the building to collapse on the hole. The Hand were finally defeated as the hole with the substance was filled with the building's ruins, burying the rest of the Hand leaders.[3]